


Uncertain Chaoses

by LunarQueen



Category: Dark (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:55:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunarQueen/pseuds/LunarQueen
Summary: The Unknown realises he grew tired of always inciting planned chaos. It is finally time for him to unleash unplanned chaos. Together with Hanno / Noah he travels from Eva's Erit Lux base in 2052 to 2019 in Adam's world. A few surprises will await them there.At the same time this work will also take some looks at key scenes of Eva's world that were not shown in the show.This fanfiction will likely introduce paradoxical events - the perfect loop will definitely be broken.
Relationships: Bartosz Tiedemann/Silja Tiedemann, The Unknown/Agnes Nielsen, Tronte Nielsen/Claudia Tiedemann
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10





	1. Acknowledgements

Year: Unknown, World: Eva

The sight of the dead body in front of him arose no particular emotion in him. Actually, it left him untouched. And yet, the body was his own. This was the day he was going to die. 66 years in the future.   
The young man just stared at the body, his eyes trailing over all the little parts of it – but his gaze never lingered anywhere. He studied his own future body with a certain curiosity but also detachedness. Like one would study a dead bird at the side of the road. A weird place to die at, he thought. A narrow and small underground safe room with earthen walls and one small light bulb that only shone so dim that one could thought the only colours in the world are black and dark orange.  
“You do not feel sad.”, he heard a voice observe behind him. A voice he knew too well. His own voice.   
His other younger-older-self stepped forward and crossed himself three times before he bent down to the body. The young men realised that in a moment like that he was supposed to toll respect to his older self. But he could not. Younger-older-self closed the already glassy eyes of the oldest self and then stood up gracefully. For a few moments both men stood in grave silence, neither of them looked at the body.   
He has gotten older, the young men thought while his gaze lingered at his living-older-self. Most of his hair has gotten gray now with only a few brown streaks in between. Wrinkles decorated his face with the cleft under his lip looking just like another more colourful wrinkle.  
I have gotten older, the young man thought when his eyes wandered to a mirror at the opposite site of the room. Serious eyes sat deep in his hawk-like skull. His expression was stern and there was no indication left that the man in the mirror was once a child.   
“You are 24 now”, his older self added as soon as the younger man had contemplated about how much he has grown in the last years, “in 9 years, Mama will give birth to us. And once again, we have to take care of ourselves, guide ourselves and be tough when you have to make hard decisions. And then accept that we have to die.” The older Unknown weakly gestures at his older body.   
“I have carried this cross for 33 years now. It is now your time to take charge”, the older Unknown mused, his gaze never moving away from his younger self. “You already know what is coming for you. What you have to do. How you will end. But do not despair. I will be by your side. Well, at least for the next 33 years.”   
The older Unknown now retrieved a lighter from his pockets. “To destroy is all we do. It will only be fair if we ourselves are eventually destroyed.”  
With a firm grip, the older man passed on the lighter to the younger man. “You have never questioned any of our decisions. And that is the most vital part. This safe-house which I brought us to will be our last resting place. But it is not meant to last.”  
Now, the older man opened a backpack which he had previously set down on a mahogany table next to him. Inside was nothing but a canister of fuel. “Let’s destroy”, he uttered nonchalantly and opened the canister. 

*

Year: 1959, World: Eva

His memory flickered back to when he was just 18 years old and graduated from school. He was sitting on the bench in front of the old school building and waited for the other boys from his class to arrive. The only one who was already there was Tronte. His son. For several years they attended the same classes. Sat next to each other in class and worked on yet another exercise the teacher imposed on them.   
He never understood why his mother told him to go to school in the 1950s alongside his son. It was weird. Especially because the thought of ever having children appalled him.   
But Tronte was a nice guy. Maybe he did good with him. Only when Tronte spoke of his home life, the Unknown got a bit uncomfortable.   
He knew that his older self was apparently happily married to Agnes and lived in a small house a bit outside Winden with his wife and his son. However, there was also the second world where a Tronte – who looks exactly the same as this one next to him did – running around who had never heard of his father. The thoughts were so weird that he tried to get rid of them. But when it was just him and Tronte alone he could not help but mill them over in his head again and again.  
“I cannot believe this part of our life is over”, Tronte suddenly said next to him, without looking up. He was fiddling around with a huge camera on his lap.  
“Mh”, hummed the Unknown.  
“What are you going to do after school, Hans?”, Tronte asked curiously, despite being still clearly occupied with his camera.   
Hans Müller. That was the name the Unknown provisionally got when he was registered for school. He was one of five Hanses and one of eight Müllers in the school. Nothing to arouse suspicion.   
“I’m going to work full-time in the family business.” The Unknown shrugged. It was the truth, technically. “You?”, he asked although he already knew that his son was going to become an investigative journalist.   
Tronte’s eyes lit up meaningfully. “I got an internship at the Windener Zeitung. As photographer. Obviously.” Demonstratively, he held up his camera with a big grin.  
“Smile.”, he demanded jokingly, although he had never seen the Unknown smile in the many years they went to school together. The Unknown furrowed his eyebrows, unimpressed. Tronte took a picture anyway. “Once the film is developed, I will sent you the photo,” he promised. “Say, I never got your address. Now that we will not see each other as much it would be nice to keep in touch through the mail now and then. I know it is weird but –“  
The Unknown shuddered because coming up with excuses about his home life had become so tiresome already. However, before Tronte could ask anything else, branches cracked behind them. Both boys spun around.   
“Claudia!”, Tronte cried excitingly when he spotted the red-haired girl in the moss-green coat that was a bit too warm for this time of the year.  
“Hi Tronte. Hans.”, Claudia gave him a small wave. The Unknown returned it, then lowered his gaze, when Tronte threw his arms around Claudia enthusiastically and put a passionate kiss on her lips.  
However, after a few seconds Claudia quickly let go of her boyfriend. But Tonte did not seem to notice. “What are you dong here?”, he asked, still a bit out of breath from so quickly jumping up when he saw Claudia and ran to her.  
“I wanted to congratulate you”, Claudia said, “and also tell you that I got accepted into the Economical Engineering program in Berlin. Not that I had any doubts that I would not get in. But I just wanted to tell you as soon as I got the letter from the university.”  
“That’s great news!”, Tronte beamed and closed the distance between his and Claudia’s face again, but his girlfriend quickly pushed him away.   
“About that…”, she said reluctantly, looking a bit uncertain in the Unknown’s direction. “Things will become different with you here in Winden and me so far away in Berlin. We need to talk about that.”  
“I know.”, Tronte assured her. “But not today. Today is for celebration!”  
“Okay”, Claudia grinned. “Walk with me for a bit before the ceremony starts?”  
“Always”, Tronte said, but turned to the Unknown with a mischievous smile on his face. “We are also not done talking yet, Hans. Will we chat after we receive our diplomas?”  
“Of course”, the Unknown said relived that he once again escaped telling a lie. While Tronte and Claudia vanished behind a corner of the school building but their vivid laughs were still audible, he put his hands into his trouser pockets. He had not realised that he turned them into fists. 

*

Year: 2052, World: Eva

He and his older self parted ways after they had made sure the last bit of fire was extinguished.   
His older self dropped him off at the cave like building in the middle of the desert that served as Erit Lux’s base and housing to members of the inner circle. While his older self fixed the keys and buttons of his round time machine that would teleport him to 1970, he suddenly looked up. “By the way, Tronte just told me that Jana gave birth to their son Ulrich,” he uttered, studying the expressionless gaze of his younger self.  
“Mh,” said the younger Unknown. He could not bother to hide his disinterest.  
“Do not worry. I felt the same way about… everything,” the older man waves around his hand extensively, “but you will eventually grow to appreciate this just as much as I do.”  
The younger man also did not bother to reply.  
“Well. Then, see you around. Mama will tell you as soon as there is a task to do,” the Older Unknown sighed, then he vanished in golden sparks to his cozy little home in 1970.

The Unknown went to his room silently, without bothering to go and greet his mother in her study. He felt so tired of always obeying orders. Of creating chaos. Planned chaos. Maybe he should start to incite unplanned chaos for a change.

When he arrived in his small chamber, he noticed that the bed next to his was still unoccupied. Due to a lack of rooms, the Unknown had to share his room with Hanno, who was currently a lanky 17-year-old and usually only brabbled about the time when Erit Lux would finally let him travel somewhere else than to 1987 where he was attending school. The Unknown just shrugged it off. Maybe they finally send Hanno on his first mission to make him finally shut up.

Exhausted, the Unknown fell onto his bed. His hair and his clothes still stank like smoke. But he was too tired to get up to shower or to merely throw off his clothes. He did not know the exact time of the day- though he presumed it to be late – but this day felt longer than any other day he has lived before. 

Just when he began to doze off, someone knocked on his door relentlessly. At first he was hoping the knocker would give up hope but the noise conveyed that the person on the other side of the door became more and more impatient with every passing second.  
“In!”, he finally groaned and got out of bed, quickly tugging a lose strand of hair behind his right ear. 

Silja, Hanno’s mother, marched through the door. She was a woman of about fifty years now, but only a few gray streaks ran through her hair and the big scar all across her face did not look any less fresh than when she was a young girl (the Unknown sometimes had to accompany a younger Silja on missions).   
“Where’s Hanno?”, she asked briskly. “He promised to take care of his sister tonight.”   
The Unknown knew that Silja would freak out and probably tell Eva if she found out Hanno was missing.  
“Sick, I guess,” The Unknown shrugged, “hasn’t left the bathroom for almost one hour now.”  
Silja peeked over the Unknown’s shoulder and noticed that no light was switched on in the bedroom. The Unknown held his breath, full of tension, but eventually Silja shook her head and a look of concern replaced the anger on her face.  
“Should I bring him something? Tea would always be good…”  
“No. No!”, interjected the Unknown, trying to keep his voice steady. “He already told me that if he was to take something, he would immediately throw up again.”  
The look of concern on Silja’s face did not vanish. The Unknown was relived that she believed him because he was usually an honest man. Or a good liar.  
“Tell him to catch up with me tomorrow before he goes to school. Bartosz and I are leaving for a task early tomorrow,” she said softly, before bidding the Unknown good night and gently closing the door. Annoyed, the Unknown fell onto his bed again. He already had enough drama of his own – he could not really deal with other people’s family drama at this moment. 

He could not trace how many minutes or hours had passed, but he had at least managed to sleep before Hanno rumbled into the room.  
Seconds later, the Unknown sniffed to make sure he was not only imaging the smell. “Did you consume alcohol, Hanno? And by that, I mean a lot of alcohol?”  
If he was not so tired he would probably grin at the young boy.  
“Nonofyerbisness,” Hanno muttered and plummeted on his bed. Seconds later, he began to snore.  
“Stop snoring,” the Unknown reprimanded him.  
For a few seconds, Hanno was quiet. Then it broke out of him. “I’m so freaking frustrated. Nobody is telling me anything! But I finally want to do something! I really want to!”  
“Sh,” the Unknown shushed him, “quiet or you wake everyone up.”  
Even though there was no light in the room the Unknown knew that Hanno pouted.  
“Hey, I had an idea today. You might like it,”, he said suddenly, “have they ever told you there is a world that is almost parallel to ours?”  
“No,” Hanno bolted upright in his bed.  
“So, I have already been there a few times. And I also happen to be tired of doing everything Mama tells me to do,” the Unknown slowly trailed, intent on keeping all of the younger boy’s attention. “Do you want to create chaos there?”  
“When do we start?” Hanno grinned mischievously.


	2. Betrayals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2052: Eva gets sappy thinking about quality time with her son.
> 
> 1970: Tronte is a mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry that I still did not get to the 2019 part yet. I really hoped I would be able to write it soon but I feel like there was still some world building left to do. This chapter is a bit more serious, but there will be light-hearted moments again soon.
> 
> There are some mentions about pregnancy in this chapter. There will probably be a lot of this subject during the course of this book. Please be cautious if this might be a triggering topic for you. I want all my readers to feel safe.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this short chapter. I definitely had fun writing it and finding out more about Eva and Tronte.

Year: 2052, World: Eva

There was not really anything to eat. With a deep sigh, the Unknown grabbed a cucumber; that was the only thing besides an already opened yoghurt can in the small fridge somebody had installed in the earthen room that served as the dining room of Erit Lux. It was weird to call it dining room because he barely saw the other members of Erit Lux and there was not really an occasion for which they could all come together. With a blunt knife he cut the cucumber into small pieces, slowly putting one by one into his mouth. He was not enjoying himself. The cucumber tasted like rubbish. But as long as he was fed he was not complaining. He would leave all of this behind him anyway. If only Hanno could think about waking up earlier. Suddenly, slow but confident footsteps approach the room. The Unknown turned around in the crackling chair and froze when he saw the woman in the door.

“Mama,” he said cooly, catching himself again.

“A word? In my study?” He could never really read his mother. But this time he was sure he caught a small glimpse of sadness on her old, scarred face.

“Yeah. Once I am done with breakfast.”, he retorted, as there were still two pieces of cucumber left.

Still expressionless, his old mother nodded and walked out of the room without a word. Her back was as straight as ever. He sighed.

‘  
“I thought you would come to my office yesterday,” Eva said, putting her elbows on the big mahogany table.

Her son just shrugged. He had never been a man of too many words. This pained her a little because when he was still young he would often come to her study. And although Eva was busy trying to figure out how exactly things worked and what terrible move she had to start next in order to keep the loop going, she always pushed her papers away when he came into her room. Her little angel.

“Can you read me a story, Mama?”, he often asked.

“If you promise to go to bed afterwards, little one”, she replied and put a hand on her lap in order to indicate that he should climb up there.   
The subject that interested him most was Greek mythology and he loved Ariadne as much as she did. Eventually, he started to ask questions about the play – he appeared too wise for his young age - that Eva also asked herself when she first read the play as a teenager. 

“Why does Ariadne do all the things she does?”, he asked one day during his seventh year. “Why is she waiting for a man to come around and save her? Shouldn’t she do what she wants the most?”  
“Little one”, Eva said and gently put her fingers into his curly hair, “at this moment it might seem unimaginable to you. But sometimes we have to hold ourselves back to save what we love the most. In many ways, I am like Ariadne in this aspect. But these are just adult things. You do not need to worry about this for a long time.”

She looked in his eyes. They darted from one place to another, showing that he tried to comprehend what he just heard. In this moment she was reminded that he was only seven years old. A kid.   
Suddenly his voice answered, although it sounded smaller than before. “What do you love the most, Mama?”

“But why, you of course,” she said and smiled. However, he did not look convinced. “Hey, what’s up.”

“I am worried. A lot”, he confessed.

“I just told you not to worry, my little one”, Eva said and gently huddled her son.  
She saw the tears glittering in his eyes but at the same time she also noticed the determined look at his face that he wanted to hold them back.  
“Tell me what’s bothering you”, she begged.

“It’s just… all the things you said about love. That you have to hold yourself back. And be sad for such a long time and do things you don’t like, like Ariadne. And if the things Silja recently said are also true… then love is dangerous.”

Eva put her son’s face into her hands, lifted his chin and looked into his face intently. “What has Silja told you?”

Caution took over his face. But she knew that her young one could not hide things from his mother.  
“I don’t know if you have noticed, Mama, but she got so big recently. I promise, I really did not want to ask her and be rude. But one day I was so hungry and Silja has only gotten bigger and bigger. And I was jealous because the fridge is always empty and yet she is so big. And then I asked her why she is not sharing her food with me. Suddenly she laughed and said it was not because she had too much to eat. She said,” at this point tears actually streamed down his fresh face, “that she is bursting from love.”  
In horror he stared at his mother’s face, looking for comfort. At this moment he just seemed like the most normal seven-year-old son. One moment he asked the deepest philosophical questions about Ariadne and in the other he could not grasp the concept of pregnancy. 

When she did not answer immediately, an entire waterfall of tears began to stream down her son’s cheeks. “So it is bad,” he cried, “it is horrible. I love you, Mama and now I know I will explode just like Silja will sooner or later.”

“Hey, shhhh,” Eva tried to calm him down. For people from the outside perspective her son’s thoughts might have evoked one chuckle or another. But she only wanted to see him smile again. “No worries, my little one, only women can become big because they love too much.”

However, this did not have the expected effect on her son. Suddenly he began screaming hysterically. “So you will explode, Mama? No! No! Please don’t explode!” 

Now, Eva actually had to chuckle. Curiously, her son looked up, with a confused look.  
“Why are you laughing, Mama?”

“I won’t explode, little one. And Silja will be fine again soon.”

Upon hearing that answer, he smiled and hugged his mother with all of his little strength he had.   
“Now, now”, she said and patted him on his back, “what about the promise you made? About going to bed?”  
He groaned but at the same time he also yawned.  
And deep down she knew this was one of the happiest moments in her life that had seemed so hopeless ever since the apocalypse of 2019.

That little boy from the memory that flashed up in her mind in that moment was long gone. Instead, a young man with a hard expression stood in front of her, his impatient body language showing that he would rather get to leave this room again quickly.  
And to be completely honest, she did not know what to say to him herself.  
After a few seconds of very exhausting silence he shrugged once again and said, “I was tired.”

In response Eva sighed and rubbed her temples. Her son stared and crossed his arms. He obviously grew more impatient with every passing second.  
“Actually, you were there last night. I mean, your older self. And we talked.”   
And we hugged, she added in her thoughts, for the first time in over ten years. I miss how things used to be.

When he heard these words, his expression softened a little bit. “What did we talk about?”, he asked.

“About the burden of this. Of everything.”, Eva replied quietly. She knew that there was usually no uncertainty and fear in the tone of her voice which also surprised her son. He uncrossed his arms for a moment, but only to cross them again a few seconds after.

“Aha”, he said, unimpressed and Eva’s hope that she might actually be able to reconnect with him sank dramatically. This was a hard blow.

“One question though, Mama”, he said and she felt her own gaze lighten up. “If you are so tired of doing all of this yourself, why don’t you stop?”

She sighed and quickly reached out with her hand as if once again to indicate to come closer to her, just like the little boy in her memory. But she quickly put her hand down again, before he could notice anything.

“Because they are some things worth fighting for. A lifetime of sacrifices over a few moments of happiness. If it were up to me I would have given you the most normal childhood you could have dreamed of. 

She meant those words, really. But her son just snorted. Any chance that he might have sympathy for her desire to be close again had faded. “Do you even realise how hollow you sound?” 

And without any further gesture he walked out of the room. She sighed again (having lost count of how many times she did so in the past twenty-four hours). She would have followed him but she had to go over things again. Little details, but details that would save them all. 

*

Year: 1970, World: Eva

His body full of tension, Tronte sat at the kitchen table, staring at the empty white paper in his typewriter. In the next room, Jana gently tried to put Ulrich to sleep. 

“Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf…” The nursery song was supposed to be calming. But Tronte was anything but calm. He was supposed to be happy, he had pursued his dream job and had his own little family. And yet, the same woman haunted all his thoughts again. Claudia Tiedemann, in all her might and glory.

They have not made love in months, have not seen each other in weeks. But today he saw her. And he realised he made a big mistake by obeying Claudia’s command – not to talk to her again. 

‘  
However, he remembered the last time they spent a night together all too well. Claudia lay in bed, a satisfied smile on her face, her face propped up on her elbow which rested on the clean white bad sheet. Tronte would have given everything to share this happiness with her. But he sat on the oaken edge of the bed, deep in thoughts.

“What’s wrong?”, Claudia asked, noticing the frustrated expression on Tronte’s face.

He could never hide anything from her, so he gave up to keep this secret any longer. “Jana is pregnant. She just told me a few hours ago.”

He looked into her face apologetically. Her never knew in which of her eyes he could sink into deeper… the ocean-blue one or the warm brown ones. But at this moment he felt like he had no access to them. Claudia was always unreadable but he felt like that she had entirely cut him off at this moment.

“This doesn’t change anything”, Tronte tried to explain, “I told I would leave Jana at any second for you. I know, things might get a bit complicated and scandalous but I…”

Claudia stopped his flow with one stern look. He always assumed he was an independent mind but Claudia only had to lift a finger and he felt like he wanted to be dominated by her. It was weird that he enjoyed it but at this moment he also felt something else. Fear. Of losing the woman of his life.

“Maybe it should”, she said, her tone as unreadable as her facial expression. “Change something, I mean.”

“How?” Tronte tried to keep his voice steady. So many times Claudia pushed him away from him. But he was afraid that this time it was going to be final. And he could not lose her now for good. Not when such chaos as Jana’s announcement had interrupted his perfect little life. If he did not show any weakness, maybe she would draw him closer and kiss him passionately. Promise him that everything was going to be okay.

“You need to fix your own mess, Tronte.”  
“My life isn’t a mess.”  
“Oh yes, it is. And please don’t talk to me again until you’re ready to admit that”, she said confidently. “Now if you don’t mind I would like to sleep.” She drew the blankets over her beautiful body until only her fire red curls were visible. “You can get a whiskey from the kitchen if you need one. But don’t drink too much. You surely promised your wife you wouldn’t be home that late again.”

Tronte did not know what to say. Well, he knew Claudia was right and even if he had the courage to leave his pregnant wife he was not so sure Claudia was committed to be in a relationship with him. She was also an independent mind and needed no one to prove her life on this Earth meant something.

As he stood up from the edge, he considered to touch her hair. Twirl her curls in his fingers. He shook his hair. Quietly, he left the room and quickly found his way to the front door. He walked home although he had parked his car in a nearby parking lot of a restaurant. He lit a cigarette with a portable green lighter Jana gave him for his last birthday. Fix your own mess, Claudia said. Maybe he should do that. But at this moment he had never known a bigger coward than himself.  
‘

Although it had been months since they had this conversation, Tronte kept replaying it over and over again in his head. It never made sense to him. But today, after what he had seen, something finally clicked. 

Windener Zeitung had sent him to the AKW to conduct an interview with Bernd Doppler (although, to be honest, Tronte always volunteered for the articles for which a reporter had to travel to AKW in hopes that he would see Claudia). And today he saw – but for the first time he wished he had not. She passed by a few seconds after he had left Doppler’s office, a bulk of paper with untidy scribbled notes under his right arm. Everything of her appearance made the impression arose that she was very busy; she was carrying three huge folders in her delicate, beautiful hands.   
Tronte stared.  
“Hello”, Claudia said coolly and nodded as if to formally greet a stranger, “do you mind opening this door for me?”  
Dumbfounded, Tronte wanted to stutter something, anything useful but eventually – after he had realised that no words would come out of his mouth – he just nodded, quickly knocked on Doppler’s door and opened it to let Claudia walk through.   
“Thank you”, she said formally, without looking at him.

Their interaction was so short and awkward, but still Tronte had noticed something. Claudia was pregnant, not that many months in, but still visible. Claudia was always so busy – she said so on so many occasions when they were together. He did not think – and also did not want to imagine – that she could have been with any other man than him. This child was his. And yet she did not even bother to acknowledge that he had a right to know.

He wanted to slam a fist on the table but decided to breathe in instead.  
Jana still sang in the room next door.  
The white paper stuck in the typewriter was still empty.  
He could not bear it any longer – determined he left his working place at the kitchen table and went to the telephone on the kitchen counter and dialed his parents’ number.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Will probably include another 1970 scene or will be a full 1970 chapter. I have a scene planned between The Unknown and Agnes and as well Egon and Silja. 
> 
> The first glimpses to the Unknown's and Hanno's deeds in 2019 will either be seen in the next chapter or in chapter 4 at the latest. 
> 
> I also already have a clear idea about how I want to end this fanfiction. But I do not know how many chapters it will take me to get there but I am content that I am writing this book with a clear idea of how I want things to unravel and not only write it on the go.

**Author's Note:**

> I do neither own nor claim any ownership over the characters used in the entirety of this work. All the characters mentioned were originally introduced in "Dark" (Netflix, 2017).
> 
> English is not my first language so please bear with me.
> 
> List of relationships and characters will be updated with every chapter.


End file.
